Pret A Manger’s gross sales crossed the $1 billion mark

The sandwich and coffee shop chain said £1 in every £4 spent at Pret is now outside the UK, thanks to expansion into key markets like New York and countries including India and Italy.

Sales in 2023 rose 22% to £1.1 billion as the chain also pushed further into suburbs in its home market, with shops at motorway service stations and cities including Bradford. 

Pret opened its first site in London in 1986. The brand, now part of JAB Holding Co., has 690 shops globally across 18 markets, including the US, Europe and Asia. 

In the first half of this year, Pret said sales had risen 10% compared to a year earlier to £569 million. It comes as the chain has lowered prices on some of its top-selling items, after pushing up prices on some offerings by more than 40% due to rising costs. 

In April, Pret brought back former chairman Larry Billett, who left in 2011, along with co-founder Sinclair Beecham. Billett joined the board as a non-executive director, and Beecham is an adviser. At the time, the chain said it would introduce a plan to bring down its debt pile built up during the pandemic. 

In a statement, Pret said it had raised £250 million of new capital this month, to reduce debt and improve liquidity.